on our broadcast tonight, on the edge of war in the middle east. israel and hamas, exchanging fire, and poised to invade. on the hill, david petraeus under heavy cover tells congress about the attack in benghazi, what he knew, when he knew it and why the u.s. first told the world what it did. and 18 days since the devastation on the east coast. and it is the end of the line for a guilty pleasure in america. but how did it come to this? nightly news begins now.

good evening, it worries them enough that israel's tanks appear ready to roll into gaza, and the skies have been raining rockets there for several days. perhaps the larger worry, both sides in this escalating fight have powerful friends that are getting involved and taking sides, like egypt, friend of hamas, and the united states, which tonight is sending naval vessels offshore in case americans need to get out of there. it has been another day of explosions and air raid sirens. it remains a situation on the edge. we have two reports tonight. our richard engel is in gaza, we want to begin, though, with martin fletcher in tel aviv. >> reporter: good evening, they met on the agenda escalating in gaza and a possible ground

invasion. the militants are challenging israel, by firing rockets where they never fired them before. a complete surprise, jerusalem, israel's capital, was attacked for the first time today. this picture on the internet, two rockets fired from gaza fell harmlessly outside the city. in two days, the second time the rocket fell in the sea. hamas showing its back has not been broken. there is no rest for the south, either, even while burying the dead from yesterday's raid that killed three people. mourners went into panic, at yet another siren warning for yet another rocket attack from gaza. there is a sharp spike in violence, 100 in the week before this outbreak, and 500 the last three days. the goal of israel's air and sea assault on gaza is to stop the

rockets. it is not working. so what is next? we are prepared to escalate in a big way, says israel's prime minister. when the israeli leaders say they will do anything, whatever it takes, this is what they mean. they are together on the border, ready to invade. 16,000 reserve soldiers reported to ytheir units today. they are waiting for the strangle hold on the south. and tonight, the government may call up reserves, more than 30,000 troops than the u.s. has in afghanistan. martin fletcher, on the israel-gaza border. >> reporter: i'm richard engel in gaza, this palestinian enclave was under attack today. the interior ministry took hits,

and did the rocket -- as did the rocket launchers, they targeted individuals. a hamas field commander was killed today. but civilians are dying, too. why is this happening now? hamas is challenging israel with rockets, confident it has real support in the region after the arab spring revolutions. visiting gaza today, the egyptian prime minister, a show of support that would never have happened under mubarak, egypt, the revolution will spare no effort to stop this aggression, he said. he held a child, according to the officials, moments earlier. egypt must balance its support of hamas with need for good relations from washington, and billions in aid. like egypt, they are from the muslim brotherhood, they are trying to channel the power that toppled arab strongmen to topple

israel. there were demonstrations today supporting gaza, in yemen, lebanon, turkey and egypt. also different today, hamas has more weapons, including tanks, some are from iran. others taken from egypt, libya, after the fall of moammar gadhafi. this is a big gamble for hamas, and many are paying with their lives. most are off the streets, we can hear the air raid drones, the israel inkurgs could risk inflming the entire region. >> all right, richard engel in gaza tonight. one more thing, look at how social media has come into play. the israeli army is posting real

time warnings when missiles are in the air, heading their way. hamas is also using twitter, but in this case, showing the rocket, sorry, we have been humiliated. in this country, david petraeus snuck in and out of capitol hill today like a star witness at a hearing, which in fact, he was. the former four-star general, former cia director until a week ago tonight was hidden from view as he testified in secret about his old job and what he knows about what happened in benghazi, libya, on 911 of this year. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: good evening, hearing from petraeus was so critical, not only because he ran the cia, but he was the only top official to visit libya after the attack. his briefing, amid his personal crisis, has helped lawmakers better understand what the intelligence community knew and when they knew it. leaving home before dawn, david

petraeus's trip to capitol hill was carefully cloaked to keep the former spy chief out of view, waiting cameras, blocked by law enforcement to "spare him," from media exposure. >> i apologize, but there is a lot of suffering going on. >> reporter: during the top secret briefing, lawmakers say petraeus made clear that the cia immediately believed that terrorists, and not protests, were directly responsible for the assault that killed chris stephens and three others. today, a new explanation for why the white house had pointed to a new anti-muslim video, when susan rice appeared three days after the attack. >> our current assessment was what happened in benghazi was a spontaneous reaction. >> reporter: both democrats and republicans said the cia assessment of terrorism was classified. and that is why that was not included in the official talking

points rice was given. >> and she did entirely the responsible thing in answering questions based on what was unclassified, and agreed to by the entire intelligence community. >> reporter: early drafts of those talking points had included more details. senior u.s. officials say a decision was made to keep the role of terrorists secret because of the legitimate issues. >> to be more specific about the al-qaeda involvement, yet, the final one said indications of extremists. >> reporter: petraeus was among the officials who signed off on the talking points. but lawmakers say he didn't play exactly how or by whom the final decision was made. so democrats defend susan rice saying she was simply limited in what she could say publicly, even if the government new more. republicans who are so critical of her say she should have known there was an al-qaeda link, and

should have been more careful in saying that a video was involved. >> and more about the fiscal cliff looming at the end of the year. the president's first meeting with congressional leaders got off to an optimistic start. which is good because they have six weeks to fix it before it happens. they worked to come up with a deal. house speaker john boehner says he thinks they will have a solution before the end of the year. and there are new details about the woman, jill kelley, at the center of the scandal that brought down general petraeus. jill kelley's connections went beyond the social elite and tampa, all the way to the white house. >> reporter: their families toured the white house on november 4th, two days before general james clapper, the director of national intelligence was even told about the petraeus scandal. jill kelley mentioned the visit in an e-mail, saying i was at

the white house with my friends in the administration this weekend. the stress was surreal. white house officials say the jill kelley sisters were invited by a staffer who may have met at the air force base. jill kelley was bipartisan in her out reach, she and her sister dropped in on a fundraiser for marco rubio two years ago, they did not pay, sources said, just arrived and soon left. in an e-mail last march, jill kelley said she was trying to stop a local jock from carrying out a threat to deep fry the quran, saying i have an e-mail getting this dealt with. records show paula broadwell also visited the white house complex at least twice for meetings on afghanistan in the executive office. >> i believe that paula broadwell was at one white house meeting that i also attended. but i think and i have always

maintained that she has been a serious analyst on this problem. >> reporter: david petraeus, before testifying today, apologized to congress members for his behavior. >> he was very sorry that this incident occurred and that anything that occurred with respect to his personal situation had nothing to do with his -- the way he handled benghazi. >> reporter: in other e-mails released by the city of tampa. jill kelley told the mayor this week that her family has been put through the ringer, that her kids are scared and need their home back. >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. news room tonight, thank you. a horrible accident in midland, texas, yesterday has claimed the lives of four u.s. military veterans, including a two-time purple heart recipient from the iraq war. it happened during an event to honor the veterans. our report tonight from nbc's janet shamlian. >> reporter: a scene in midland, a celebration of american heroes turns tragic, as two flat bed trailers, part of a parade

honoring the veterans went across the track. witnesses say the arm lowered and a train slammed into the trailer. >> i couldn't believe what i saw, as the arm came down, i heard the horn but it hit it within three seconds. >> reporter: 16 were hurt, and four veterans who survived the battlefield lost their lives on the street. gary stouffer, army sergeant joshua michael, sergeant michael believed to have sacrificed his life for his wife, daylyn, when he pushed her from the trailer just before the impact. >> it was chaos, loud, noisy, people were panicking. >> reporter: the parade was just blocked from going through a banquet. they have collected video from the train and the escort car. >> we just continue to pray together. >> reporter: as a heartbroken

community mourns the heroes that fell here at home. janet shamlian, nbc news, midland, texas. one day after the big settlement between the government and bp over the worst oil spill in u.s. history, another platform exploded in the gulf of mexico today south of grand isle, louisiana, 11 were injured, two taken to the hospital. two, sadly were missing tonight. this is a production platform, not drilling. and so the coast guard says the oil spillage is minimal. and still ahead, some giant brand names in this country, are they all about to go away? and later, all grown up, ready to report to duty. there is something about this particular recruit that makes his story special. into their work, their name on the door, and their heart into their community. small business saturday is a day to show our support. a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors.

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americans without their wonder bread and twinkies, and all the other hostesses that they make. >> reporter: if there ever was an icon for our fast-food nation, this is it. in all of its shrink-wrapped, smushy glory. the twinkie and the rest of the hostess snack cake family, along with favorites like wonder bread, are poised to go the way of grandmother's jello mold. they told savannah guthrie today, it is the end of the road. >> reporter: is it really over? >> this is it. >> reporter: 18,000 workers, many of whom are are already on strike stand to lose their jobs. >> the twinkie will exist, in perhaps nostalgia only, perhaps

the best known casualty of america's move towards healthier food. >> reporter: urban myths suggest that twinkies have a shelf life of forever, perhaps even apprised find for future scientists. in fact, the shelf life is just under a month. although this super bowl ad has a chevy and a certain cake surviving the apocalypse. and way, way in the future, the perfectly preserved twinkie is unwrapped for this insect buddy. while america's dog in chicago, they're still deep-frying twinkies for the not so faint of heart. some are even working with them from all over, they are stocking up. >> they were just buying it off the shelf like crazy, they know it wouldn't be around. >> reporter: some say twinkies may last forever, but may all be

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. tonight, we want to head back to the jersey shore to check in on the staggering storm damage. if you have seen our coverage you probably have noticed it is the modest towns where the damage has been most shocking. people go there and live there for the jersey shore life. it is not the hamptons or malibu, it is close neighbors and cottages. and these days it is hard to imagine how it will be the same. it has been 18 days and folks just now are able to see the damage. nbc's stephanie gosk was there. >> reporter: these people on the jersey shore, three neighbors, their houses are totally gone. >> i got some ground here.

>> my grandfather had a house for 60 years. and it was our future. but -- but it is also my past. >> this is the handle to our stove. how hard this is today. it is devastating. i don't know what else to say. the idea of rebuilding doesn't even seem responsible right now. >> reporter: people here are just trying to understand the scope of the destruction. this house is obviously off its foundation. this is also the second floor. >> even if you could wave a magic wand and everything is going to be put back, it is going to be years before some of that comes back. i worked on the boardwalk growing up. you know, i can walk the seaside. that is a steel beam, there is wood on the outside, but it is bent like crazy. to see this, it is a big path, my friend, jo, i have known him

my whole life. he is digging for his safe right now. >> reporter: tell me what you're hoping to find right now. >> a safe, with family memorabilia, pictures of my parents, just, you know, my eagle scout award. every one of these houses, you're family. and you all hang out on the beach together, and you watch your kids grow, and you watch the grand kids grow. and it is -- you know, you got your memories. >> reporter: stephanie gosk, nbc news on the jersey shore. >> tough to watch, and up next here tonight, the few, the proud, the dogs who are chosen to serve. and a special one from among their ranks. a story we have been following. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold... i took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't work on runny noses. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really.

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and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. we leave you this friday night with a story of a friend we have watched grow up over the past 18 months. dolan was just a puppy when we started to follow him through the tsa bomb detection program in san antonio, texas. now, he is ready to duty, wearing a vest and carrying on the process.

here is nbc tom costello. >> reporter: it was 18 months ago when we first met dolan and his play mates at the boot camp, that trains these noses to sniff out explosives. but something about this puppy made him special. he was the 500th puppy to go through the tsa program. and every dog is named after one of the 3,000 people who died on 9/11. >> i can't even tell you what an honor this is for me. >> reporter: dolan was named after lisa dolan's husband, navy captain bob dolan who died in the pentagon on 9/11. she met the puppy, dolan, for the first time. >> hello, baby. >> reporter: 18 months later, dolan is all grown up. and with his handler, now ready to graduate from the tsa's bond detection academy. >> good, good, over here. >> reporter: a big day for which lisa and daughter, rebecca, have

driven all the way to san antonio. >> hello, baby, do you remember me? >> reporter: so what is it like to see him all grown up? >> it is just wonderful, wonderful. i know now that he is going to go out there and he is going to work. >> reporter: sniffing for bombs is a big game for the tsa dogs, but almost half the puppies in the program wash out. not dolan, now he is leaving the training terminal here in texas and headed for a new assignment in maui, and heading there with two of his classmates. handler frank diangelo is going with him. >> every time i hear the name, dolan, i think of you. >> reporter: for her dad, who was a technician, it all came full circle. >> i am really proud when i tell people that he was the bomb guy, i think it is great he is continuing the legacy.

>> reporter: a continuation of sacrifice that lives on in dolan, tom costello, nbc news, san antonio. >> just a good dog, everywhere. that is our broadcast on friday night. thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, we of course hope to see you right back here on monday. in the meantime, please have a good weekend. good night.